Such a process and the corresponding device have been know from EP 0,014,923. The enveloping device consists of two stationary brackets and two pivotable film arms here. The film arms are cantilevered at one end and carry, at the other end, the heavy film roll, as well as a welding and cutting device. The complete enveloping device is seated on a single transport carriage and is moved, at the level of the pressed bale, into the pressing or packing station from the side. During the traveling movement, the jacketing film, stretched between the stationary brackets and the film roll, is laid around the pressed bale, and the pivotable film arms perform an additional rotary movement with the film roll. Such an arrangement poses mechanical and kinematic problems.
The ends of the film are firmly connected at the junction point by welding, stapling, or in another manner. This is also necessary because the enveloping device must be detached from the pressed bale and be completely removed from the packing or press station for the subsequent strapping. It must make space for the independent strapping device. This technique is time-consuming and requires expensive design and control. Accommodating an enveloping device and a strapping device with their transport carriage separately from one another, maintaining them in the waiting position and having them move in and out separately is, last but not least, also a space problem. Therefore, the prior-art device cannot be used in all press systems, especially in so-called carrousel baling presses, in which the pressed bale is only poorly accessible from the side through the press columns. How the free end of the film is to be gripped and clamped for the next packing process after separation of the jacketing film and opening and withdrawal of the enveloping device is, furthermore, left open in the state of the art. The welding or stapling connection between the film ends also has proven to be unfavorable. Consequently, high-strength films with limited stretchability cannot be used for satisfactory packing.